Hot-pluggable disk drive carrier assembly with no loose parts

ABSTRACT

A carrier assembly is provided for supporting a hot-pluggable hard disk drive and is slidably and removably insertable into a sheet metal cage structure to operatively mount the disk drive therein and releasably mate an SCA connector on the drive to a corresponding electrical backplane connector within the cage. The carrier assembly includes a base wall upon which a pair of upstanding side wall structures are captively retained for pivotal movement toward and away from opposite side edge portions of the base wall. Each of the pivotal side wall structures captively retains a pair of mounting screws. With the side wall structures in their outwardly pivoted orientations, the disk drive is placed atop the base wall, the side wall structures are pivoted inwardly against corresponding opposite side walls of the disk drive, and the mounting screws are tightened into aligned threaded openings in the opposing disk drive side walls. To remove the disk drive, the mounting screws are unscrewed from the disk drive, the carrier side wall structures are swung outwardly from the disk drive, and the disk drive is lifted off the base wall. Due to the captive retention of the carrier side wall structures and mounting screws, no assembly and disassembly of the carrier is required, and it has no loose parts that can be misplaced, damaged or incorrectly installed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to the mounting and support ofhard disk drives for computers and, in a preferred embodiment thereof,more particularly relates to apparatus for removably supporting aplurality of hot plug-connected hard disk drives.

2. Description of Related Art

Hard disk drives for a file server or other type of computer are oftenmounted, in a vertically or horizontally stacked array, in a rectangularsheet metal "cage" structure which may be disposed within the computerhousing or externally thereto. For operational convenience andflexibility, each disk drive is typically "shot plug" connected withinthe cage. This type of electrical connection permits any of thesupported disk drives to be removed and reinstalled within the cagewithout disturbing the operation of the other disk drives.

To effect this desirable hot plug connection of each of the disk drives,each disk drive is typically supported on a carrier structure which isslidably and removably insertable into the cage to mate an electricalconnector carried on a rear portion of the drive or its carrierstructure with a corresponding electrical connector on a back planecircuit board suitably supported at the rear interior side of the cage.Under conventional practice, when the drive is installed on itsassociated carrier structure it is typically the case that various looseparts, such as mounting screws, cables, shields and the like, have to beassembled as an adjunct to operatively mounting the disk drive on itsassociated carrier assembly. This conventional necessity of dealing witha variety of loose parts to mount the disk drive on its carrierstructure, and later remove the disk drive from the carrier, tends tomake these necessary drive mounting and removal tasks relatively complexand tedious, while at the same time putting the computer owner orservice technician at risk of losing, damaging or improperly assemblingthe various loose parts of the carrier structure.

In view of the foregoing it can be seen that a need exists for ahot-pluggable disk drive carrier structure which eliminates or at leastsubstantially reduces the above-mentioned problems, limitations anddisadvantages typically associated with conventional carrier structuresof the general type described above. It is to this need that the presentinvention is directed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In carrying out principles of the present invention, in accordance witha preferred embodiment thereof, a computer system is provided whichincludes a CPU unit having a microprocessor and a data storage sectionoperative to store data retrievable by the microprocessor. The datastorage section includes a support housing in which a stacked series ofhot-pluggable hard disk drives are removably supported using speciallydesigned carrier assemblies upon which the individual disk drives areremovably mounted.

In its preferred embodiment, each carrier assembly is of a uniqueno-loose-parts construction in which first and second captivelyinterconnected wall structures are positionable adjacent first andsecond portions of a disk drive, preferably opposite first and secondopposite side portions thereof, with at least one of such wallstructures being movable toward and away from the other wall structurebetween closed and release positions of the wall structures. Fasteningstructures, representatively threaded fasteners, are captively retainedon the first and second wall structures and are removably securable tothe disk drive to removably mount it on the carrier assembly.

Preferably, the carrier assembly includes a base wall having a side uponwhich the disk drive may be placed, a front end portion, a rear endportion, and a pair of opposite side edges extending between these frontand rear end portions. The first and second wall structures formopposite side wall portions of the carrier assembly, and extend adjacentand generally along the opposite side edges of the base wall, with frontend portions of the first and second wall structures being pivotallymounted to the front end of the base portion so that the first and wallstructures may be pivoted relative to the base wall toward and away fromits opposite side edges. Rear end portions of the first and second wallstructures are captively connected to the rear end portion of the basewall in a manner permitting only a limited pivotal movement of theserear end portions toward and away from one another as the first andsecond wall structures are moved between their inwardly pivoted closedposition and their outwardly pivoted release position.

To rapidly and easily mount one of the disk drives on one of the carrierassemblies, the disk drive is simply placed atop the carrier assemblybase wall with the opposite side wall structures pivoted outwardly totheir release position to facilitate the placement of the disk drive onthe base wall. The side wall structures are then pivoted inwardly totheir closed position in which they are closely adjacent opposite sidewalls of the disk drive. The threaded fasteners are then threaded intocorresponding holes in the disk drive side walls to releasably mount thedisk drive on the carrier assembly.

The carrier assembly, and the disk drive mounted thereon, are slidrearwardly into the support housing to an operative position therein,representatively using opposite side flange projections which are formedon the carrier assembly and are slidably receivable in guide railstructures carried on opposing side wall portions of the supporthousing. An electrical connector positioned on the rear end of thesupported hard disk drive is hot-pluggable to a corresponding backplaneelectrical connector portion of the support housing in response to fullinsertion of the carrier assembly into the support housing.

When the carrier assembly is subsequently removed from the supporthousing, the disk drive may be easily and quickly removed from thecarrier assembly simply by loosening the threaded fastener members,swinging the opposite carrier side walls out to their release positionto facilitate grasping the disk drive, and lifting the now freed diskdrive off the carrier assembly base wall.

Due to the captive retention of the opposite pivotable carrier assemblyside wall structures, and the corresponding captive retention of thethreaded fastener members on the side wall structures, no assembly ordisassembly of the carrier is required in conjunction with the mountingand removal of its associated disk drive, and the carrier assembly hasno loose parts that can be misplaced, damaged or incorrectly installed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 this a schematic diagram of a representative computer systemhaving incorporated therein a stacked hard disk drive/carrier arraysupported in a cage structure and embodying principles of the presentinvention;

FlG. 2 is a simplified, partially exploded perspective view of the cagestructure and the plurality of disk drive/carrier assemblies operativelysupported therein and hot plug-connected to backplane electricalconnectors therein, with one of the disk drive/carrier assemblies havingbeen removed from the cage structure;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged scale perspective detail view of an inner sideportion of one of the vertical side walls of the cage structure;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged scale top plan view of the removed diskdrive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged scale bottom plan view of the removed diskdrive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged scale front end elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged scale rear end elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 8 is an enlarged scale right side elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged scale left side elevational view of the removeddisk drive/carrier assembly;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged scale exploded top, rear and right sideperspective view of the removed disk drive/carrier assembly, withopposite heat sink wall portions of the carrier being pivoted outwardlyto their disk drive release positions relative to a base wall portion ofthe carrier, and portions of the assembly having been removed forpurposes of illustrative clarity;

FIGS. 11-13 are enlarged scale top, front and left side perspectiveviews of the removed disk drive/carrier assembly, with a latch portionthereof respectively being in closed, partially opened, and fully openedpositions thereof;

FIGS. 11A-13A are enlarged scale partial cross-sectional views throughthe removed disk drive/carrier assembly respectively taken along lines11A--11A, 12A--12A and 13A--13A of FIGS. 11-13;

FIG. 14 is an enlarged scale, partially cut away perspective view ofpart of the carrier portion of the removed assembly and illustrates afiber optic cable-based LED indicating light transfer structureintegrally incorporated into the carrier;

FIG. 15 is an enlarged scale partial exploded perspective view of theremoved disk drive /carrier assembly and illustrates a heat sink supportstructure feature thereof;

FIG. 16 is an enlarged scale cross-sectional view through one of thecage-supported disk drive/carrier assemblies taken along line 16--16 ofFIG. 2;

FIG. 17 is an enlarged scale front side elevational view of the cagestructure and illustrates two of the disk drive/carrier assembliessupported and hot plug-connected therein; and

FIG. 18 is an enlarged scale detail view of the dashed circled area "A"in FIG. 17.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Schematically illustrated in FIG. 1 is a representative computer system10, the components of which are interconnected as shown and include acomputer, illustratively in the form of a tower type CPU unit 12; amonitor 14; a keyboard 16; and a pointing device, representatively inthe form of a mouse 18. In addition to various other components disposedtherein, the CPU unit 12 has a data storage section, representatively avertically stacked series of hard disk drives 20, operative to storedata that may be retrieved by a microprocessor 22 within the CPU unit12.

In the illustrated embodiment of the CPU unit 12, the vertically stackedseries of hard disk drives 20 are removably positioned within a supporthousing, representatively in the form of a sheet metal cage structure 24positioned within the outer housing 26 of the CPU unit 12, usingspecially designed carrier apparatus embodying principles of the presentinvention and subsequently described herein. Alternatively, the cagestructure 24 could be located externally of the CPU housing 26 within aseparate rack housing (not shown). Moreover, while the disk drives 20have been representatively illustrated as being vertically stacked, theycould also be positioned in a horizontally stacked array in which thecage 24 was rotated ninety degrees to one side instead of beingvertically oriented.

The data storage section of the computer system 10, with its verticallystacked array of hard disk drives 20 (representatively five in number),is shown in simplified, partially exploded perspective form in FIG. 2.As illustrated, the sheet metal cage structure 24 functions as a supporthousing and representatively is of a vertically elongated rectangularconfiguration, having an open front side 28, top and bottom walls 30 and32, left and right vertical side walls 34 and 36, and a backplanestructure 38 extending along its rear side. Ventilation holes 40 areformed in the top, left and right cage walls 30,34 and 36, and aschematically illustrated fan 42 is operatively disposed behind thebackplane structure 38 within the computer housing 26. During operationof the CPU unit 12, the fan 42 draws cooling air 44 into the interior ofthe cage structure 24 through its open front side 28 and its ventilationholes 40, flows the air 44 along the disk drives 20 supported within thecage 24, and then discharges the air outwardly through the rear of thecage 24 around the periphery of the backplane structure 38.

The backplane structure 38 has a vertically elongated rectangularconfiguration, with a front side 46 from which a vertically spaced arrayof five male electrical connectors 48 (one for each of the five diskdrives 20) forwardly project. TO the left of each of the connectors 48are three vertically stacked LED indicating lights 50,52 and 54. Aslater described herein, these indicating lights are used to provide avisual indicia as to the operating state of each of the hard disk drives20.

Each of the disk drives 20 is supported on a specially designed carrierstructure 60 which is used, as later described herein, to removablysupport the disk drives 20 within the cage 24 in a manner creating a hotplug connection for each drive to one of the backplane connectors 48. Tofacilitate the removable support within the cage 24 of each of thecarriers, portions 62 of the vertical left and right side walls 34,36 ofthe cage 24 are lanced inwardly to form for each carrier 60 a pair offront and rear guide rail sections 64 on each of the left and right cageside walls 34 and 36 (see FIGS. 3 and 16-18), with each of the guiderail sections 64 being defined by vertically facing pairs of thelanced-in cage wall portions 62. For purposes later described herein,directly above each front pair of lanced-in wall portions 62 is anarcuate lanced-in wall portion 66.

Each disk drive 20 (see FIGS. 10 and 15) has a generally rectangularconfiguration which is elongated in a front-to-rear direction, andfurther has front and rear end walls 68 and 70, top and bottom sidewalls 72 and 74, and left and right vertical side walls 76 and 78. Ineach of the left and right side walls 76,78 a pair of threaded mountingholes 80,82 are formed near the bottom side of the disk driverespectively adjacent respectively adjacent its front and rear ends Acircuit board 84 is operatively mounted on the bottom side of the diskdrive 20, and is electrically coupled thereto. The circuit board 84,which forms a portion of the overall disk drive structure, has a femaleSCA connector 86 thereon which is centrally positioned at the rear endwall 70 of the disk drive and is releasably mateable, in a hot-plugmanner, with a corresponding one of the backplane connectors 48 (seeFIGS. 2 and 16) in response to operative insertion of the disk drive 20into the cage 24 as later described herein.

Structure of the Carriers 60

The carrier structures 60 are used to support the hard disk drives 20for removable sliding insertion into the interior cage 24 to supportedoperating positions in which the disk drives are releasably hot-pluggedto the backplane connectors 48 received in the SCA connectors 86 of theinserted disk drives 20. Each carrier structure 60 is of a unitary, noloose parts construction comprised of several components that arecaptively retained on one another so that none of the components can beseparated from the structure and become misplaced, lost or easilydamaged.

More specifically, and with reference now to FIGS. 4-18, each of thedisk drive carriers 60 (see, in particular, FIGS. 10, 14 and 15)includes a perforated sheet metal bottom or base wall 90; left and rightmetal side wall heat sink structures 92 and 94; a molded plastic frontbezel structure 96; and a molded plastic ejector latch assembly 98.

Base wall 90 has front and rear end edges 100 and 102, left and rightside edges 104 and 106, and an upturned rear end flange 108 having arectangular opening 110 therein. For purposes later described herein, atthe opposite rear corners of the base wall 90 are upturned rear edgetabs 112.

Each of the left and right metal side wall heat sink structures 92 and94 extends upwardly from its associated base wall 90 and has arelatively thin rectangular body section 114 which is horizontallyelongated in a front-to-rear direction relative to the base wall 90 andis positioned adjacent one of the left and right base wall side edges104,106. The outer sides of the left and right side body sections 114have formed thereon vertically spaced pluralities of elongated heat sinkfin projections 116 that longitudinally extend in front-to-reardirections.

Along the bottom side edge of each of the left and right side walls92,94 is an outwardly projecting mounting flange 118 which is slidinglyreceivable in the previously mentioned cage guide rail sections 64 tomount the carrier 60 (and thus the disk drive 20 which it supports)within the cage 24. Front and rear disk drive mounting screws 120,122are captively retained on each of the body sections 114 and extendtherethrough from their outer sides to their inner sides 124. Forpurposes later described herein, just forwardly of the front mountingscrews 120 are a pair of outwardly projecting boss structures 126 formedon the outer sides of the left and right carrier side wall body sections114. Additionally, flanges 128, elongated in a front-to-rear directions,are formed on the top side edges of the body sections 114.

At the rear end of each of the side wall body sections 114 is aninturned tab 130 having a horizontal slot 132 formed therein. Top endportions 112a of the upturned base wall rear corner tabs 112 areslidingly received in the slots 132 which are substantially wider inleft-to-right directions than the corresponding widths of the top tabend portions 112a. The side wall body sections 114 have inturnedtransverse front end portions 114a each defined by a vertically spacedseries of separated heat sink fins 134 joined at their inner ends by avertical bar member 136.

Front and rear resilient shock isolation feet 137a,137b (see FIGS. 5-9)are suitably secured to the underside of each of the side wall bodysections 114 and project downwardly beyond its bottom side surface. Feet137a,137b have rectangular configurations which are elongated infront-to-rear directions, with the feet 137a being positioned adjacentthe junctures of the body sections 114 and their associated transversefront end portions, and the feet 137b being positioned adjacent the rearends of the body sections 114.

The molded plastic bezel structure 96 (see FIGS. 5, 6, 10 and 14) ispositioned at the front end of the carrier 60 and has a hollowrectangular central section 138 with an open rear side 140 and a frontwall 142 with a rectangular opening 144 therein. A translucent plasticplate member 146 with disk operating icons 148,150,152 thereon isreceived in the opening 144. At the rear side of the central bezelsection 138 is a bottom base plate portion 154 of the bezel which iselongated in left and right directions and underlies a front end edgeportion of the metal carrier base wall 90. A spaced series of postsextend upwardly from the bezel base plate portion 154 throughcorresponding holes in the metal carrier base plate 90 and are heatstaked thereto as at 156.

Hollow bosses 158,160 (see FIG. 11A) are respectively formed on left andright sides of the central bezel section 138 and are respectivelyreceived between the two lowermost heat sink fins 134 on the transversefront end portions 114a of the left and right heat sink walls 92,94 ofthe carrier 60. Shouldered screws 162 extend vertically through thefront end portions 114a, and the bosses 158,160, and secure the frontend portions 114a to the bezel 96 for pivotal motion relative theretoabout vertical axes extending through the bosses 158,160.

The ejector latch assembly 98 (see FIGS. 11-13A) includes an elongatedmolded plastic ejector lever member 164; a molded plastic retainer slidemember 166; and a molded plastic bifurcated spring member 168. Theejector lever member 164 has an inner end portion 170 with an inner siderecess 172 formed therein, and a generally transverse, rearwardlyinturned outer end portion 174 having an outer side notch 176 disposedat its juncture with the balance of the lever member. The retainer slidemember 166 is formed integrally with an elongated spring arm structure178 which, in turn, is formed integrally with a left side of the centralbezel section 138 and extends between the two lowermost heat sink fins134 on the left front corner of the carrier 60. AS illustrated, theretainer slide member 166 is exposed on a left front side portion of thecarrier 60.

The bifurcated spring member 168 has an elongated inner side arm 180, anelongated outer side arm 182 with a rounded projection 184 at its outerend, and an inner end portion 186 with a notch 188 formed therein. Innerend portions of the ejector lever 164 and the bifurcated spring member168 are positioned between the two lowermost heat sink fins 134 on aright front corner portion of the carrier 60 and are pivotally securedto such heat sink fins 134 by a vertically extending shouldered screw190. The spring member 168 is pivotable relative to the lever member 164in a manner such that the outer side arm 182 can swing into and out ofthe lever side recess 172, and the outer end of the inner side arm 180is forwardly adjacent the boss 160. As illustrated, the notched innerend portion 186 of the ejector lever member 164 projects outwardlybeyond a right front corner portion of the carrier 60 in a rightwarddirection.

Turning now to FIG. 14, a rearwardly facing exposed optical connector192 is suitably mounted on the left rear corner of the carrier 60 in acutout area 194 of the left inturned side wall tab 130. The connector192 extends forwardly through the cutout area 194 into a verticallyenlarged portion of a horizontally elongated groove 196 formed in theinner side surface 124 of the body section 114 of the left heat sinkside wall 92. Three fiber optic cables 198,200,202 are operativelycoupled at rear ends thereof to the connector 192 and longitudinallyextend therefrom through the groove 196 to adjacent its front end nearthe front end section 114a of the left side wall heat sink structure 92.At this point the fiber optic cables 198,200,202 turn rightwardly to alocation directly behind the open rear side 140 of the central bezelsection 138. The cables then turn forwardly and connect to a lensstructure 204 disposed within the interior of the central bezel section138. Lens structure 204 has three spaced apart, forwardly projectingsections 206,208,210 which are respectively associated with the frontends of the fiber optic cables 198,200,202. The lens sections206,208,210 have front ends which are located behind the plastic platemember 145 and respectively aligned with the drive operating icons148,150,152 thereon (see FIG. 6).

Referring now to FIGS. 10 and 15, each 60 also inclers 60 also includesa pair of thermally conductive resilient heat transfer interface padmembers 212 having horizontally elongated configurations. Pads 212 areadhered to the inner sides 124 of the side wall body sections 114, withthe left pad 212 being mounted over the groove 196 in the left bodysection 114. Holes 120a,122a are formed in the pads 212 to permitpassage of the captively retained mounting screws 120,122 therethrough.

Use and Operation of the Carriers 60

The operation, use and various advantages of the disk drive carriers 60will now be described in detail with initial reference to FIGS. 10 and11. To ready one of the carriers 60 for operative supporting connectionto one of the hard disk drives 20, the rear ends of the left and rightside wall heat sink structures 92,94 are pivoted outwardly away from oneanother and the opposite left and right side edges 104,106 of the basewall 90, as indicated by the arrows 214 in FIG. 10, to thereby increasethe distance between the inner side surfaces 124 of the body sections114. The two side wall portions 92,94 pivot horizontally about thevertical shouldered screws 162 at the front of the carrier 60 (see FIG.11A), with the engagement of the rear corner tabs 112 with the inner endsurfaces of the tab slots 132 serving to limit the extent of thisoutward pivoting.

The disk drive 20 is then simply placed atop the base wall 90 so thatthe disk drive threaded mounting holes 80,82 are aligned with the frontand rear mounting screws 120,122 captively retained on the left andright side wall structures 92 and 94. The side walls 92 and 94 are thenpivoted back toward one another to their positions shown in FIGS. 4 and5 in which they are parallel to the left and right side edges of thebase wall 90. Finally, the mounting screws 120,122 are simply screwedinto the corresponding opposing disk drive side openings 80 and 82.

This simple procedure securely mounts the disk drive 20 in the carrier60 in a manner such that the bottom, opposite sides and opposite ends ofthe mounted disk drive are shielded by portions of the carrier structureagainst user hand contact with the mounted disk drive, while at the sametime providing an appreciable degree of ESD shielding for the disk drive20. The completed disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 may then beoperatively inserted into the cage 24 (see FIG. 2) as later describedherein.

When the disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 is subsequently withdrawnfrom the cage 24, the removal of the disk drive 20 from its carrier iseffected simply by unscrewing the mounting screws 120,122 from the diskdrive 20, pivoting the carrier side wall structures 92,94 outwardly totheir FIG. 10 release positions to facilitate removal of the disk drive,and then simply lifting the now freed disk drive 20 off of the top sideof the base wall 90.

As can readily be seen, both the installation of the disk drive 20 onits associated carrier 60, and the subsequent removal of the disk drive20 from its carrier 60, can be carried out without the removal of anyportion of the carrier 60 from the balance thereof. This is due to theunique "no loose parts" construction of the carrier 60 in which all ofits components are captively carried by the balance of the carrier.Specifically, the front ends of the side wall structures 92,94 arecaptively and movably retained on the bezel 96, the rear ends of theside wall structures 92,94 are captively and movably retained on thebase wall 90, the bezel 96 is captives retained on the base wall 90, thelatch assembly 98 is captively and movably retained on the bezel 96 andthe right side wall structure 94, and the mounting screws 120,122 arecaptively and movably retained on the left and right carrier side wallportions 92 and 94. In this manner the potential for losing, misplacingor potentially damaging portions of carrier 60 in conjunction withmounting the disk drive on an associated carrier, or removing the diskdrive therefrom, is substantially eliminated.

Each of the disk drive/carrier assemblies may be operatively installedwithin the interior of the cage 24 (see FIG. 2) by simply sliding thecarrier mounting flanges 118 rearwardly into the appropriate opposingpairs of cage guide rail sections 64 (see FIGS. 3, 16 and 18), and thenusing the carrier's ejector latch assembly 98 to releasably mate, in ahot-plugged manner, the disk drive's rear-mounted SCA connector 86 (seeFIGS. 10 and 15) with a facing one of the backplane connectors 48 (seeFIGS. 2 and 16). The operation of the specially designed ejector latchassembly 98 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 11-13A.

One of the disk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 is shown in FIGS. 11 and11A with its ejector latch assembly 98 in its fully closed, lockedposition to which it is moved, after the carrier 60 is slid into thecage 24, to mate the disk drive/backplane connector pair 86,48 andreleasably lock the disk drive/carrier assembly 20/60 in its operativeposition within the cage 24. As illustrated, with the ejector latchassembly 98 in this position, the ejector lever member 164longitudinally extends in a left-to-right direction and is compactlypositioned closely adjacent the front side of the central bezel section138, with the inturned outer end portion 174 of the lever member 164being received between the lowermost pair of heat sink fins 134 on theleft front corner of the carrier 60.

The outer end of the inner side arm 180 of the bifurcated spring member168 is in abutment with the boss 160, and the outer side arm 182 isreceived within the inner side recess 172 of the outer side arm 182. Theouter end projection 184 of the outer side arm 182 is engaging the frontside surface of the recess 172 in a manner rearwardly bending the outerside arm 182, thereby exerting a resilient forward pivotal biasing forceon the ejector lever member 164. The forwardly biased ejector levermember 164 is prevented from forwardly pivoting away from its fullyclosed position shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A by the retainer slide member166, a portion of which forwardly overlies the outer side notch area 176at the outer end of the lever member 164 and releasably blocks forwardpivoting of the lever member 164 relative to the front end of thecarrier 60. AS illustrated, the inner or right end 186 of the bifurcatedspring member 168, adjacent the notch 188 therein, is received within animmediately adjacent vertical channel portion 36a of the right side wall36 of the cage 24 (see FIG. 2).

When it is desired to remove the inserted disk drive/carrier assembly20,60 from the interior of the cage 24, and unplug the disk driveconnector 86 from its associated backplane connector 48, the user simplymoves the retainer slide member 166 leftwardly, as indicated by thearrows 216 in FIGS. 11 and 11A, thereby leftwardly bending the springarm structure 178 and shifting the retainer slide member 166 out ofoverlying, blocking engagement with the left end of the ejector levermember 164.

This permits the previously deformed outer side arm 182 to forwardlypivot the ejector lever member 164 out to an intermediate positionthereof (see FIGS. 12 and 12A) as indicated by the arrows 218 in FIGS.12 and 12A. The pivotal movement of the lever member 164 from its fullyclosed position to its intermediate position does not unplug the diskdrive connector 86 from its associated backplane connector 48, butexposes the juncture of the elongated main lever body and its inturnedouter end portion 174 to present a convenient pull handle structure tothe user which he may grasp and pull forwardly with one hand.

By manually pulling in a forward direction on the lever member 164 inits intermediate position shown in FIGS. 12 and 12a, the lever member isforwardly pivoted outwardly to an opened position thereof shown in FIGS.13 and 13a. This movement of the lever member 164 to such openedposition drives the inner end 186 of the bifurcated spring member 168rearwardly against the vertical cage channel section 36a (see FIG. 13A)to forwardly drive the carrier 60 relative to the cage 24, as indicatedby the arrow 220 in FIG. 13A, to decouple the disk drive connector 86from its associated backplane connector 48. A further forward manualpull on the lever member 164 pivots the inner spring member end 186 outof leveraged engagement with the vertical cage channel section 36a andpulls the disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 out of the cage 24.

This process is simply reversed to easily and quickly install one of thedisk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 in the interior of the cage 24.Specifically, with the lever member 164 in its fully opened position thecarrier mounting flanges 118 (see FIGS. 10, 16 and 18) are slidrearwardly into opposing pairs of the cage guide rail structures 64 (seeFIGS. 3, 16 and 18) until the inner end 186 of the bifurcated springmember 168 is adjacent the vertical channel section 36a (see FIG. 13A).Lever member 164 is then rearwardly pivoted through its FIG. 13A openedposition and its FIG. 12A intermediate position to its FIG. 11A lockedposition.

Via the leveraged interaction between the inner end 186 of thebifurcated spring member 168 and the vertical cage channel section 36athis drives the disk drive/carrier assembly 20,60 further rearwardlyrelative to the cage 24 to couple the disk drive connector 86 and itsassociated backplane connector 48 as the lever member 164 is rearwardlypivoted from its FIG. 13A position to its FIG. 12A position. As thelever member 164 is further pivoted from its FIG. 12A position to itsFIG. 11A closed position, the lever member 164 engages and rearwardlybends the outer spring side arm 182, and the curved outer side surface222 of the lever member outer end portion 174 engages and leftwardlycams the retainer slide member 166 (thus leftwardly bending the springarm structure 178) to permit the lever member end portion 174 to enterthe space between the two lowermost heat sink fins 134 on the left frontcorner of the carrier 60. Upon entry of the lever end portion 174 intothis space, the resiliently deformed spring arm structure 178 causes theretainer slide member 166 to snap rightwardly back into the outer endnotch 176 of the lever member 164 to releasably retain the lever member164 in its closed position, shown in FIGS. 11 and 11A, against theforward pivotal biasing force of the resiliently deformed outer side arm182 of the bifurcated spring member 168.

As can be seen from the foregoing, the overall ejector latch assembly 98is of a simple, relatively inexpensive construction, and is easilyuseable with one hand, in a quite intuitive manner, to latch and unlatchthe carrier 60 to and from the cage 24 and couple and decouple theconnector pair 48,86. The ejector latch assembly 98 in its closedorientation is also quite compact, but opens outwardly to define aneasily graspable pull handle structure. While the ejector latch assembly98 has been illustrated as being associated with a disk drive structureit could be alternatively utilized with a variety of other types ofpluggable devices such as, by way of example, circuit boards and CD ROMdrives.

In addition to its no-loose-parts construction and its improved ejectorlatch assembly, the carrier 60 is provided with several other advantagesover conventionally configured carrier structures used to operativelysupport disk drives in support housings such as sheet metal cages. Oneof these additional advantages is the provision of substantiallyimproved dissipation of disk drive operating heat. As will be recalled,the pivotable opposite side wall portions 92,94 of the carrier 60 areconfigured as heat sink structures, having integral fin portions 116,134thereon. When one of the disk drives 20 is supported on its carrier 60within the cage 24 (see FIG. 2), the operation of the fan 42 drawscooling air 44 inwardly through the front carrier fins 134 and along thesupported disk drive, and inwardly through the cage ventilation holes 40along the disk drive 20 and the carrier side wall cooling fins 116 toconvectively dissipate disk drive operating heat from the diskdrive/carrier assembly 20,60.

This convective heat dissipation is very substantially augmented by theprovision of the heat conductive thermal interface pad members 212 (seeFIGS. 10 and 15) which are compressed between the carrier side wallmembers 92,94 and the facing left and right sides 76,78 of the diskdrive 20. The use of these pads 212 substantially increases theconductive heat transfer between the supported disk drive and the heatsink side wall portions 92,94 of the carrier 60 to thereby increase theoverall disk drive operating heat transfer to the cooling flow of air 44rearwardly through the interior of the support cage structure 24.

Another advantage of the carrier structure 60 is the manner in which itprovides a visual indication of the operational state of the disk drive20 that it removably supports within the cage 24. When the disk drive 20is hot plug-connected to its associated backplane connector 48 withinthe cage 24, the circuitry associated with the drive 20 (i.e., theelectronics on its underlying circuit board portion 84) activates thethree LED indicating lights 50,52,54 leftwardly adjacent the backplaneconnector 48 (see FIGS. 2 and 14) in accordance with the operationalstate of the disk drive 20. When any of the three indicating lights50,52,54 is activated, its light output is received by the opticalconnector 192 on the left rear corner of the carrier 60 and transmittedvia the associated one of the three fiber optic cables 198,200,202 tothe lens structure 204 at the front of the carrier 60 and then to theassociated one of the three drive operating icons 148,150,152 via one ofthe lens sections 206,208,210 disposed in a central front end portion ofthe carrier 60.

The unique positioning of the light transmitting elements 200,202,204within the interior of the carrier 60, as opposed to being routedexternally along the outer side thereof or on the cage structure 24,provides this transfer of the LED indicating light signals withoutincreasing the outer spatial envelope of the carrier 60 or adding thecomplexity of placing the transfer elements on the cage structure.Additionally, due to the use of fiber optic cables as the lighttransmitting elements, neither the required bends in the elements toaccommodate the central placement of the operating icons 148,150,152 northe length of the transmitting element runs from the LED lights 50,52,54to the operating icons 148,150,152 appreciably diminishes the lightoutput intensity at the operating icons.

Illustratively, the hard disk drives 20 supported by the carriers 60 arehigh speed drives that operate in the 7,200 RPM to 12,000 RPM rotationalspeed range. This speed range refers to the rotational speed range ofthe platter portion of each drive around a rotational axis 224 of thedrive (see FIG. 16) which is transverse to the base wall 90 of thecarrier 60. As is well known, this high rotational speed tends to causeself-induced rotational vibration of the drive about the axis 224 asindicated by the double-ended arrow 226 in FIG. 16. If not suitablycontrolled, this rotational vibration 226 about the axis 224 cansubstantially degrade the performance of the supported disk drive 20.

Conventional approaches to controlling this self-induced operationalvibration have included placing resilient vibration absorbing structuresbetween the disk drive and its associated carrier, or simply increasingthe size and mass of the carrier to better absorb this operationalvibration of the disk drive. Neither of these previously proposedapproaches has proven to be entirely satisfactory, the separateresilient shock absorbing system being an additional source ofundesirable size, complexity and cost, and the increased size and massof the carrier undesirably increasing he overall size of the stackeddisk drive array.

In the specially designed carrier 60, however, the self-inducedrotational vibratory forces of its supported hard disk drive 20 aboutthe axis 224 are very substantially reduced by using the two bossstructures 126 on opposite sides of the carrier 60 (see FIGS. 16 and 17)to create on the cage-inserted carrier 60 two oppositely disposedinterference fits between the boss structures 126 and the lanced-incarrier side wall portions 66 in response to insertion of the carrier 60into the cage 24 as previously described herein.

These opposite interference fits between the cage 24 and the carrier 60are offset in a front-to-rear direction relative to the rotational axis224 of the supported hard disk drive 20. Preferably, as shown in FIG.16, such opposed interference fit locations are forwardly offset fromthe rotational axis 224, but could alternatively be rearwardly offsettherefrom. Because of this offset of the two opposed interference fitlocations from the rotational axis 224 it can be seen that the cage 24serves to strongly impede vibration induced rotation of the disk drive20 in either direction about the drive's rotational axis 224. The bosses126 can be simply be integral metal portions of the cage side wallsections 92 and 94 or, as indicated in FIG. 16, be partially defined bysuitable nonmetallic inserts 126a supported in base portions of thebosses 126.

Another potential source of damage to the disk drives 20 arises fromwhat is commonly referred to as non-operational shock damage. This typeof shock damage to one of the carrier-supported disk drives 20 can arisewhen the carrier is removed from the cage 24 and placed on a horizontalwork surface such as a table or work bench. For example, if the removedcarrier accidentally slips out of a technician's hand and falls only ashort distance onto the surface, or is placed on edge on the surface andthen tips over onto the surface, the carrier-supported drive can bedamaged from this type of non-operational shock.

In previously utilized, relatively low speed disk drives stacked inrelatively low density arrangements, the non-operational shock problemwas dealt with by placing resilient shock absorbing foot structures onthe bottom sides of the drive carriers. Thus, if the carrier fell ashort distance or tipped over onto a horizontal support surface, thefeed absorbed the resulting non-operational shock and preventedresulting damage to the carrier-supported disk drive. However, with thegrowing trend toward stacking carrier supported disk drives inincreasingly dense arrays, the additional stacking space required byeven these small resilient shock-absorbing feet came to be unacceptable,with the result being that many computer manufacturers simply eliminatedsuch feet and relied on labels placed on the disk drives and warningusers of the drives to handle them very carefully to avoidnon-operational shock damage thereto.

In the specially designed carrier 60, however, the configurations of thedisk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 are related to one another in aunique manner permitting the previously described vibration isolationfeet 137a,137b (see FIGS. 5-9, 17 and 18) to be placed on the bottomsides of the carriers 60 without appreciably increasing the overallstack height of a stacked array of disk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60within the cage structure 24.

Specifically, as best illustrated in FIG. 18, each disk drive/carrierassembly 20,60 is configured in a manner such that the top side edges ofthe top edge flanges 128 on the left and right carrier side wallstructures 92,94 are downwardly offset from the top side of the diskdrive 20 supported in the carrier 60 to thereby create in the assembly20,60 front-to-rear extending depressed areas 228 (see FIGS. 17 and 18)outwardly adjacent top right and left corner portions of the supporteddisk drive 20.

These depressed areas 228 define what may be termed nesting areas thatdownwardly receive the resilient support feet 137a,137b on the bottomside of the upwardly adjacent carrier 20. For example, the support feet137a,137b on the bottom side of the upper disk drive/carrier assembly20,60a shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 downwardly nest in the opposite topcorner depressed areas 228 of the lower disk drive/carrier assembly20,60b, with the bottom sides of the support feet 137a,137b on the upperdisk drive/carrier assembly 20,60a being downwardly offset from the topside of the top side of the lower disk drive 20. Thus, in eachvertically successive pair of disk drive/carrier assemblies 20,60 theresilient shock absorbing feet 137a,137b in the upper assembly arereceived and nest within the outer spatial envelope of the lowerassembly so that the desirable presence of the shock absorbing feet137a,137b does not appreciably increase the stack height of themulti-disk drive array. While this unique nesting of the support feethas been representatively illustrated and described in conjunction witha vertically stacked array of carrier-supported disk drives, it will bereadily appreciated that it could also be utilized to advantage inconjunction with a horizontally stacked array of carrier-supported diskdrives as well.

The foregoing detailed description is to be clearly understood as beinggiven by way of illustration and example only, the spirit and scope ofthe present invention being limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. Carrier apparatus operative to support anelectronic device and being removably insertable therewith into ahousing structure to a supported operating position therein, saidcarrier apparatus comprising:first and second interconnected wallstructures positionable adjacent first and second portions of thedevice, at least one of said first and second wall structures beingmovable toward and away from the other one of said first and second wallstructures; and fastening structures captively retained on said firstand second wall structures and being removably engageable with the firstand second portions of the device.
 2. The carrier apparatus of claim 1wherein said carrier apparatus is devoid of loose parts.
 3. The carrierapparatus of claim 1 wherein said carrier apparatus is configured tosupport a hot-pluggable electronic device.
 4. The carrier apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein said fastening structures are threaded fasteningmembers.
 5. The carrier apparatus of claim 1 wherein said first andsecond wall structures are captively interconnected to one another. 6.The carrier apparatus of claim 3 wherein said carrier apparatus isconfigured to support a hot-pluggable hard disk drive.
 7. The carrierapparatus of claim 5 wherein:said carrier apparatus further comprises abase wall, and said first and second wall structures are opposite sidewall portions of said carrier apparatus and are supported on said basewall for movement relative thereto toward and away from one another. 8.The carrier apparatus of claim 7 wherein:said base wall has oppositeside edge portions, and said first and second wall structures aresupported on said base wall for movement relative thereto toward andaway from said opposite side edge portions.
 9. The carrier apparatus ofclaim 8 wherein said first and second wall structures have first endportions pivotally supported on said base wall.
 10. The carrierapparatus of claim 9 wherein said first and second wall structures havesecond end portions captively connected to said base wall in a mannerpermitting only a limited movement of said second end portions towardand away from one another relative to said base wall.
 11. Electronicapparatus comprising:a carrier structure removably insertable into ahousing structure to a supported operating position therein andincluding:a first wall structure, a second wall structure interconnectedto said first wall structure and being movable toward and away therefromrespectively to holding and release positions, and fastening structurescaptively retained on said first and second wall structures; and anelectronic device supported on said carrier structure and having firstand second portions respectively positioned adjacent said first andsecond wall structures with said second wall structure being in saidholding position and said fastening structures removably engaging saidfirst and second portions of said electronic device.
 12. The electronicapparatus of claim 11 wherein said carrier structure is devoid of looseparts.
 13. The electronic apparatus of claim 11 wherein said electronicdevice is a hot-pluggable device.
 14. The electronic apparatus of claim11 wherein said fastening structures are threaded fastening membersremovably secured to said first and second portions of said electronicdevice.
 15. The electronic apparatus of claim 11 wherein said first andsecond wall structures are captively interconnected to one another. 16.The electronic apparatus of claim 11 further comprising:a housingstructure into which said carrier structure may be operatively inserted,and cooperatively engageable portions on said carrier structure and saidhousing structure for operatively and removably supporting said carrierstructure within said housing structure.
 17. The electronic apparatus ofclaim 13 wherein:the housing structure has a first electrical connectortherein, and said hot-pluggable device is a hot-pluggable hard diskdrive having a second electrical connector disposed thereon for matingconnection with the first electrical connector in response to theoperative insertion of said carrier structure into the housingstructure.
 18. The electronic apparatus of claim 15 wherein:said carrierstructure further includes a base wall, and said first and second wallstructures are opposite side wall portions of said carrier structure andare supported on said base wall for movement relative thereto toward andaway from one another, said electronic device being positioned betweensaid first and second wall structures.
 19. The electronic apparatus ofclaim 16 wherein said cooperatively engageable portions include:oppositeside flange projections on said carrier structure, and opposite siderail structures carried on said housing structure and configured toslidably receive said opposite side flange projections.
 20. Theelectronic apparatus of claim 18 wherein:said base wall has oppositeside edge portions, and said first and second wall structures aresupported on said base wall for movement relative thereto toward andaway from said opposite side edge portions.
 21. The electronic apparatusof claim 20 wherein said first and second wall structures have first endportions pivotally supported on said base wall.
 22. The electronicapparatus of claim 21 wherein said first and second wall structures havesecond end portions captives connected to said base wall in a mannerpermitting only a limited movement of said second end portions towardand away from one another relative to said base wall.
 23. Ahot-pluggable hard disk drive carrier assembly removably insertable intoa housing structure to a supported operating position therein, saidcarrier assembly comprising:a base wall having a side upon which ahot-pluggable hard disk drive may be placed, said base wall furtherhaving a front end portion, a rear end portion spaced apart from saidfront end portion, and a pair of opposite side edge portions extendingbetween said front and rear end portions; first and second side wallportions extending generally along said opposite side edge portions andhaving front end portions captives connected to said front end portionof said base wall in a manner permitting said first and second side wallportions to be pivoted relative to said base wall toward and away fromone another, and rear end portions positioned adjacent said rear endportion of said base wall; and fastening members captively retained onsaid first and second side wall portions and being removably securableto a hot-pluggable disk drive placed on said side Of said base wallbetween said first and second side wall portions.
 24. The carrierassembly of claim 23 wherein said rear end portions of said first andsecond wall structures are captively connected to said base wall in amanner permitting only a limited movement of said rear end portionstoward and away from one another relative to said base wall. 25.Electronic apparatus comprising a no loose parts carrier assemblyoperative to support a pluggable electronic device and being removablyinsertable therewith into a housing structure to a supported operatingposition therein, said carrier assembly including:first and secondcaptives interconnected wall structures positionable adjacent first andsecond portions of the device, at least one of said first and secondcaptively interconnected wall structures being movable toward and awayfrom the other one of said first and second captively interconnectedwall structures; and fastening means, captively retained on said firstand second captively interconnected wall structures, for releasablysecuring said first and second captively interconnected wall structuresto the first and second portions of the device.
 26. The electronicapparatus of claim 25 further comprising a pluggable electronic devicesupported by said carrier assembly and removably secured to said firstand second captives interconnected wall structures by said fasteningmeans.
 27. The electronic apparatus of claim 26 wherein said pluggableelectronic device is a hot-pluggable hard disk drive.
 28. A computersystem comprising a CPU unit having a microprocessor and a data storagesection operative to store data retrievable by said microprocessor, saiddata storage section including:a support housing; a data storage device;and a carrier structure operative to support said data storage deviceand being removably insertable therewith into said housing structure toa supported operating position therein, said carrier structureincluding:first and second interconnected wall structures positionableadjacent first and second portions of said data storage device, at leastone of said first and second wall structures being movable toward andaway from the other one of said first and second wall structures, andfastening structures captively retained on said first and second wallstructures and being removably engageable with said first and secondportions of said data storage device.
 29. The computer system of claim28 wherein said carrier structure is devoid of loose parts.
 30. Thecomputer system of claim 28 wherein said data storage device is a diskdrive.
 31. The computer system of claim 28 wherein said fasteningstructures are threaded fastening members.
 32. The computer system ofclaim 28 wherein said data storage device is operatively supported bysaid carrier structure, with said fastening structures being releasablysecured to said first and second portions of said data storage device.33. The computer system of claim 28 wherein said first and second wallstructures are captively interconnected to one another.
 34. The computersystem of claim 30 wherein:said support housing has a first electricalconnector therein, and said disk drive is a hot-pluggable disk drivehaving a second electrical disposed thereon for mating connection withsaid first electrical connector in response to operative insertion ofsaid carrier structure into said support housing.
 35. The computersystem of claim 32 wherein said carrier structure is operativelydisposed within said support housing.
 36. The computer system of claim33 wherein:said carrier structure further comprises a base wall, andsaid first and second wall structures are opposite side wall portions ofsaid carrier structure and are supported on said base wall for movementrelative thereto toward and away from one another.
 37. The computersystem of claim 36 wherein:said base wall has opposite side edgeportions, and said first and second wall structures are supported onsaid base wall for movement relative thereto toward and away from saidopposite side edge portions.
 38. The computer system of claim 37 whereinsaid first and second wall structures have first end portions pivotallysupported on said base wall.
 39. The computer system of claim 38 whereinsaid first and second wall structures have second end portions captivelyconnected to said base wall in a manner permitting only a limitedmovement of said second end portions toward and away from one anotherrelative to said base wall.
 40. A computer system comprising a CPU unithaving a microprocessor and a data storage section operative to storedata retrievable by said microprocessor, said data storage sectionincluding:a support housing; a data storage device; and a carrierassembly operative to support said data storage device and beingremovably insertable therewith into said support housing to a supportedoperating position therein, said carrier assembly including:first andsecond captively interconnected wall structures positionable adjacentfirst and second portions of said data storage device, at least one ofsaid first and second captively interconnected wall structures beingmovable toward and away from the other one of said first and secondcaptively interconnected wall structures, and fastening means, captivelyretained on said first and second captively interconnected wallstructures, for releasably securing said first and second captivelyinterconnected wall structures to said first and second portions of saiddata storage device.
 41. The computer system of claim 40 wherein saiddata storage device is a hot-pluggable hard disk drive.
 42. The computersystem of claim 40 wherein:said support housing has a first electricalconnector therein, and said data storage device is operatively supportedby said carrier assembly and has a second electrical connectorpositioned to be mated with said first electrical connector in responseto operative insertion of said carrier assembly into said supporthousing.
 43. The computer system of claim 40 wherein said carrierassembly is devoid of loose parts.
 44. The computer system of claim 42wherein said second electrical connector is an SCA connector.
 45. Thecomputer system of claim 42 wherein said carrier assembly is operativelypositioned within said support housing.
 46. Carrier apparatus operativeto support an electronic device and being removably insertable therewithinto a housing structure to a supported operating position therein, saidcarrier apparatus comprising:first and second interconnected wallstructures positionable adjacent first and second portions of thedevice, at least one of said first and second wall structures beingmovable toward and away from the other one of said first and second wallstructures; and fastening apparatus associated with said first andsecond wall structures and being removably engageable with the first andsecond portions of the device to releasably hold the device on saidcarrier apparatus for movement therewith.
 47. The carrier apparatus ofclaim 46 wherein:said carrier apparatus is configured to support ahot-pluggable electronic device.
 48. The carrier apparatus of claim 47wherein said carrier apparatus is configured to support a hot-pluggablehard disk drive.